Excel: calculates SDHC cost and $/hr

Allen Ellis

Allen Ellis

Well-known member
Hi all,

I created an Excel spreadsheet to compare Panasonic's recording rates and prices for 4GB-32GB SDHC cards on NewEgg. A 16GB card ($27) will fit 6 hours of footage -- making it the cheapest at $4.50/hour.

That's about the cost of a one hour MiniDV tape!

Attached is a screenshot of today's prices and the xlsx if you want to fiddle with card prices.

sd_prices.jpg


Download link (13kb):
» http://www.allenellis.com/public/SD.xlsx

Here are the NewEgg prices:
4GB: $7.75
8GB: 14.99
8GB: $16 ea (kit of 2)
16GB: $27.49
32GB: $81 (after MIR)
 
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that is if you are shooting to a lower bit rate. I think most are shooting in the PH mode. Considering you can reuse the same card hundreds of times I say it works out to be much cheaper than shooting to DV tape in the long run.
 
I don't think I will even end up buying a 32gb card. I'd rather stick with 16gb as they are Class 6 and you could buy 2 for cheaper then a 32gb card. Anyone tried the adata 16gb? I was wondering if they are good? I bought a transcend due to most people liking those. Not leaning towards the panny 16gb due to much higher cost for piece of mind...we'll see. Nice sheet, thanks
 
Elmy said:
I don't think I will even end up buying a 32gb card. I'd rather stick with 16gb as they are Class 6 and you could buy 2 for cheaper then a 32gb card.
Click to expand...

Me too. Plus I don't want to have too much on one card and then lose it.
 
What is the total rec time summation? YOu just added up the random column of record times above it? So it's saying if you have a combination of SD cards in capacity of 4, 8, 8, 16, and 32, you would have this much recording time in the various modes?

Also are these A-Data cards good? Better or equal to Trascends?
 
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Hi,

The total record time is based on the total capacity (set at 64GB in yellow) and the record mode, so that assumes that if you stick to one recording mode, then no matter what combination of cards you pick that's how much time you'll record for.

I have no idea if the A-data cards are any good - I forgot to check if these are class 6 so the prices are probably on the low side.
 
I bought a bunch of 16GB cards but I was also operating under the assumption that by fall I'd be able to get a 32gb or 64gb SDHC cards for about the same as the 16gb now.

Am I way overestimating SDHC progess??
 
SDHC only goes up to 32 GB. SDXC, when that comes out, will eventually go up to 2 terabytes. No word on if the HMC150 can do SDXC though...
 
I have 2 of the 16GB adata cards. No problems here, I doubt the more expensive ones can provide much of a benefit.

Flash memory capacities and prices have been plateauing for a while. Despite all the devices that require them these days, even that market has been impacted by the economy. 16GB is def the way to go unless you NEED longer record time at once. The only time I can think of this being necessary is where the camera is put on a tripod and left to record... which is where the lower bitrate modes excel and give you extra time.
 
Actually, it seems to me that costs have been rising. The Transcend 16GB class 6 cards, at least, have risen steadily over the past two weeks, from around $27 to around $38...
 
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